Shower apparatus

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9616432-B2
Application number	US-201514671271-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 27, 2015
Priority date	Mar 31, 2014
Publication date	Apr 11, 2017
Grant date	Apr 11, 2017

Abstract

In this shower apparatus, a part of an internal space thereof closer to the outer circumference thereof than an aeration unit is defined as a plurality of small spaces, and all of the small spaces have a uniform channel resistance, and all of the small spaces have a uniform ratio between a channel cross-sectional area at an inlet portion of each of the small spaces and a total opening area of nozzle holes that communicate the small space with an external space such that backflow water CF that returns from the respective small spaces consistently has a uniform flow rate at any point in time among the streams of the backflow water CF.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A shower apparatus that discharges aerated bubbly water, comprising:
a water supply unit that supplies water;
a single throttle unit disposed downstream of the water supply unit, the single throttle unit having a channel cross-sectional area smaller than that of the water supply unit and thereby increasing a flow velocity of water passing through the single throttle unit to radially eject the water, as a single main water stream, toward an outer circumference of the shower apparatus;
the shower apparatus having a shape including a longitudinal dimension and a lateral dimension, the longitudinal dimension and the lateral dimension being unequal;
an aeration unit disposed closer to the outer circumference than the single throttle unit and provided with an opening for aerating water ejected through the single throttle unit so as to produce bubbly water;
a water discharge unit disposed further closer to the outer circumference than the aeration unit and provided with a plurality of nozzle holes for discharging the bubbly water;
a pulsation imparting mechanism, which has a swirl chamber facing the opening, provided in the vicinity of the single main water stream, that periodically changes a traveling direction of the single main water stream by a swirl formed in the swirl chamber, and thereby periodically changes an amount of air mixed into the single main water stream, so as to impart the bubbly water with pulsation; and
a plurality of fixed partition walls which define a part of an internal space closer to the outer circumference than the opening and the swirl chamber as a plurality of small spaces,
said plurality of small spaces having at least a portion angled from the swirl chamber so as to diverge towards a remaining portion of said small spaces,
wherein the plurality of small spaces is configured such that the backflow water that returns from the respective small spaces toward the single throttle unit consistently has a uniform flow rate at any point in time among streams of the backflow water.

2. The shower apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein all of the small spaces have a uniform channel cross-sectional area at the inlet portion of the small space.

3. The shower apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein all of the small spaces have the uniform channel width at the inlet portion of the small space when seen along a direction in which the bubbly water is discharged from the nozzle holes.

4. The shower apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein, in the vicinity of the inlet portion of at least one of the small spaces, a channel resistance increasing mechanism for increasing a channel resistance of the small space is arranged.

5. The shower apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein all of the small spaces have a uniform ratio between a channel cross-sectional area at an inlet portion of each of the small spaces and a total opening area of the nozzle holes that communicate the small space with an external space.

6. The shower apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the plurality of small spaces is configured to linearly guide the bubbly water which has passed into the small spaces in a longitudinal direction and to bend and guide the bubbly water which has passed into the small spaces in a lateral direction.

Assignees

• Toto Ltd

Inventors

• Hayata Shuhei
• Takeda Koji
• Uemura Yasufumi
• Ukigai Kiyotake
• Nagata Katsuya

Classifications

• B05B1/18 Primary

  Roses; Shower heads · CPC title

• B05B1/08

  of pulsating nature, e.g. delivering liquid in successive separate quantities · CPC title

• B05B7/0441 Primary

  with one inner conduit of liquid surrounded by an external conduit of gas upstream the mixing chamber · CPC title

• B05B7/0425

  without any source of compressed gas, e.g. the air being sucked by the pressurised liquid · CPC title

• B05B1/083 Primary

  the pulsating mechanism comprising movable parts · CPC title